IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General Benny Gantz decided to remove Lt. Col.
Shalom Eisner from his command position Tuesday – but was the
decision influenced by an illegally obtained recording of Eisner?
Watchdog group Israel Media Watch (IMW) thinks it may have.

IMW filed a complaint to the police Wednesday against Or Heller, a
reporter on security affairs for Channel 10 television news, on
suspicion that he illegally recorded a conversation between Eisner
and Hagit Rein, whose son Benaya was killed in the Second Lebanon
War, and who knows Eisner well.

Heller interviewed Rein about her friendship with Lt. Col. Eisner,
who personally took her son´s body out of Lebanon. Rein then called
Eisner and spoke to him, possibly at the urging of the Channel 10
team. According to IMW, it is likely that Hagit Rein did not know
that her microphone was still on when she called Eisner and spoke to
him. Another version of events that is being circulated on Facebook
is that Rein did know she was being recorded but did not know that
Eisner´s voice, too was being picked up by the microphone.

Later that day, Channel 10 broadcast a recording of Eisner, which –
if IMW´s accusations are true – was taken from his conversation with
Rein. In the recording, Eisner can be heard criticizing the Chief of
Staff and the Head of Central Command for the way they disowned him
after his scuffle with the Danish anarchist. This recording may have
been the last straw that convinced the army leadership to remove Lt.
Col. Eisner from his command position.

IMW said that it believes neither Rein nor Eisner knew their
conversation was being recorded. If this is true – the recording is
illegal under Israeli law. IMW also asked the Attorney General and
Legal Advisor to the Government to launch a criminal investihgation
against Heller and Channel 10.

Israel is a single party consent state, meaning that at least one
participant in a conversation must consent to its being recorded for
the recording to be legal. IMW said that even if Heller is not guilty
of a criminal offense, he appears to be guilty of a grave ethical
offense and should be suspended pending an investigation.